Editorial and Professional Services

My professional background is as a journalist, writer, editor. and public relations professional. For many years, I was an editor at Rodale Press' Prevention Magazine, the country's highest-circulation health magazine. I also wrote and edited for the Rodale Press book division. My feature articles have been published in many magazines, including Readers Digest, Good Housekeeping, Self, and others.

An impulse visit to a quilt show in Ithaca, New York in the early 1990s set me on the path to becoming a fiber artist. I write and illustrate sewing and quilting patterns and books using a combination of CorelDraw, InDesign, and Photoshop.  I sell most of my patterns on this blog's Pattern Page, as well as in my Etsy shop. I wrote, illustrated and published a book called "The Uncommon Yarmulke; Easy, fun, and spiritually-loaded little Jewish hats." My Judaiquilt.com website has long been a resource for stitchers who want to make Judaica, especially wedding canopies, tallitot (prayer shawls), and yarmulkes. 

My fiber arts articles in national media include:

• Machine Quilting Unlimited - Say Yes to the Bride; Creating a Commissioned Wedding Canopy.  PDF here.
  
• Modern Holidays, from the editors of Stitch - Gift Glyphs project design and directions. Pattern from the magazine publisher, here. I blogged a DIY version here. 
   
• Quilt Pattern Magazine, Book review, of Circle Quilts by Colleen Granger. Read it here.
• The Quilt Life Magazine, From UFO to ATC: Artist Trading Cards. PDF here. 
• Quilters Newsletter Magazine, Quilt a Wedding Canopy. PDF here. 
• Quilters Newsletter Magazine, Party Quilts: If You Bring It, They Will Sign; Two-part series, December  2004 and Party Quilt Planning 101, January/February 2005. 
• MarcusFabrics website, Quilting with the Experts, Party Quilts here. 

Articles that discuss my work (and other things) include:

• American Jewish Studies Magazine, "Mediating Moses and Matzoh," by Jodi Eichler-Levine, 2018, here. 
• Hadassah Magazine, "Needlework is Tactile Prayer", by Libby Barnea, here. 
• The Jewish Journal, Spring, 2015, Design a Tallit as Unique as They Are. Find it here. The article discussed a recent rock'n'roll tallit, blogged here. 
• The Quilt Life Magazine, December, 2010; Simcha. I was quoted and some of my Judaic work was shown in an article about Judaic quilting and the Pomegranate Guild of Judaic Needlework.  PDF here. 

I have written a weekly quilt-related blog post since 2011. I am a former (2015-2017) president of the international Pomegranate Guild of Judaic Needlework.

Along with editorial work, I also love to work on commissions, as a creative partner with my clients. Along with commissioned Judaica, like wedding canopies and prayer shawls, I make memory quilts from clothing, and quilts personalized for my clients' needs and tastes. Have a quilt in mind? Need editing help? I'd love to help you brainstorm. Email me at cathy (dot) perlmutter (at) gmail (dot)com!

I grew up near Boston, Massachusetts, and earned a bachelor's and master's degree from Harvard University and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. I have two children who are young adults, and a very supportive husband!